Original Kin
by splitting ends
Summary: There had always been something about Zero that set his blood aflame and his fangs on edge, but Kaname realizes that it wasn't hate. What he feels is a response to the hunter's blood, blood that contains the very ingredient to spoil all his plans.
1. Dawn

Original Kin

Vampire Knight © Hino Matsuri

In a dark room locked away in some faraway castle, a figure sat among the shadows. A shift, a sudden movement, sends him bent over his knees in pain. An uncharacteristic hiss leaks from his lips like escaped gas, flashing a set of ivory fangs. Blood-red eyes flutter open, peaking through spread fingers.

For a long while, Kaname sat in reverie – one hand shield half of his face, half of his pain, and the other clenched on his lap. His eyes, usually sharp like a crimson-stained blade, were unusually soft – almost vulnerable. But this was Kuran Kaname – the progenitor of the prominent Kuran clan, a vampire of the highest pedigree, an Ancestor. He could not afford even a sparse second of weakness.

And yet… there was a faraway look in his eyes, an almost nostalgic feeling invades his body, as if he was transported across time and space, over three millennia ago, to a place where he was so naive and weak and helpless. It shocks him that he still remembers, can still relive, that past – a dark age when his heart had been soft and unhardened by his immortality.

_Kaname._

Ba-dump. His heart creaks into work, like starting the engine of an old and very unused car, but it stutters back to life anyways. Even if it only lasted a heartbeat, Kaname took this as a sign. Deathly quiet, he retracts his hand from his face and places over where his heart was buried in his chest. Instead of the frigidness of a dead heart, he feels radiating warmth – and a soft gasp escapes past his lips. He thinks, **she's here**.

He dismisses his thought – to him, wishful thinking is garbage. **Dead, **he reminds himself, **she's dead.** But a flashing image of silver eyes strikes his mind's eyes like lightning. Electricity runs through his veins like a circuit, and his heart stutters a strained but valid _ba-dump_. Another evanescent pair of eyes dance in his vision, but instead of translucent silver, the irises were an eerily familiar shade of glassy violet. Despite the differences in color, Kaname knew they were the same eyes, therefore the same person.

The realization sparks a revolution in his veins. His blood sings, calling out to one whom he had thought was long gone, calling out to him – to take the siren's call. Kaname stands up, stalks to a draped window, and wrenches it open. He stares out into the inky blackness of the midnight sky, but what he truly sees is the silhouette of his mortal enemy – and of his first love.

In the reflection of blood-red eyes, a shadow of a woman – a Pureblood – hovers over the figure of a man with his back against the viewer. Kaname parts his lips, drawing out a name he hasn't heard or said since an eternity ago.

_Rei_

In tandem the man and the shadow turn to face him, two faces – smooth lips, straight noses, and luminescent eyes – overlap one another, boosting each other's individual beauty, which was enough to pierce even Kaname's impassable composure. Both pairs of eyes soften in the same way that made his heart ache and flutter at the same time. Two sets of pale lips part, _Kaname_, they whisper. Rei, the woman, and Zero smile at Kaname – love shining clearly in their eyes.

Rei and Zero – a Pureblood, an Ancestor like him, and a Hunter – are the same person: both his deceased mate and his mortal enemy. For once, Kaname can find nothing ironic or funny in this particular joke from Fate, only cruelty.

Kaname disperses into a cloud of bats, each winged fragment flying desperately to the same location. In his flight, Kaname questions, **Is it reincarnation, or something else entirely?** He has an idea – more accurately, a gut wrenching hunch – of the latter, but he hopes it isn't the case. Because, with this possibility, all his carefully laid out plans will be ruined – thousands of years in scheming and orchestrating will be shred into irrevocable pieces like flimsy parchment. Kaname knows better – it probably is something else entirely.

Kiryuu Zero may have a vampiric atavism – the first, and only, one in human history. Kaname knew of only one place that kept any and all records about such subject matters, and to infiltrate that place usually meant death for his kind. **Still**, he bats his leathery wings fast enough to hear the bones whine in their sockets, **I need affirmation…evidence that Zero will only remain a piece on the chessboard, and not the advent of an endless war**.

Kaname was well versed in war: he knew that it was like a fire, that it could start with the smallest spark of conflict and spread like wildfire – uncontrollable and fast-paced. No one escapes the flames unscarred, either with their lives or with their souls.


	2. Bloodlust

**Original Kin**

**Bloodlust**

Vampire Knight © Hino Matsuri

**Warning**: graphic violence, bullet-ridden vampires, etc. courtesy of Kiryuu Zero.

* * *

A level D swings at him, claw spread. Zero stood stone silent, only narrowing his eyes at the enraged beast. It was over, faster than a blink. The hunter widened his stance, seized the offending claw, forcing the limb to twist into an awkward angle, and emptied several thorny bullets into the vampire's exposed flank – simultaneously. Another fanged creature leaps at his back, mistaking his vulnerability. Zero delivers a powerful knee to the abdomen, sending the carcass into the air, and using the mangled arm, flipping the body onto the creature behind. He whips around, white tailcoats flowing along with his movements, and pulls the trigger. A bullet lodges dead center into the forehead – a clean shot. The bodies fall to the ground with a dull thud. Zero thought the whole spectacle was anticlimactic.

"_Kiryuu… Hunter… Kill him… __**Blood**__…" _

Swarms of level D vampires whisper, their hunger bleeding into their voices. Zero surveys the moving shadows in the decaying structures of the mansion. He is completely outnumbered; 50:1 give or take. He spares a look at the bodies lying lifelessly next to him – 48:1.

The hunter raises his arm and locks the barrel of his weapon on the infested rooftop. With a flick of his wrist, he cocks the gun. A challenge is issued.

The head of silver hair disappears among the onslaught of hungry monsters.

* * *

"What was that?"

Takamiya Kaito casts a skeptical glance at his new trainee. "What," he snapped. Honestly, the guy was as skittish as a rabbit – it was a miracle (or misfortune depending on the person) that he was still alive. But just in case, Kaito swept the arched stone hallway with alert eyes. Yet even the most fickle of shadows were stone still. The hunter rolled his eyes. "Keep moving."

Crimson eyes watched the pair amble down the corridor and, once out of view, a figure cloaked in darkness descended onto the smooth floor with the grace of a fallen angel.

It was here, he didn't know what it was exactly, but there was _something_ definitely buried behind these walls. And amongst his enhanced sense, Kaname especially prided himself in his ability to sniff out secrets. The Pureblood relaxed, his body and posture going slack, breathing deeply and reaching inward – locating the fragment of himself that felt at home in this accursed place. _There_. He felt it prickling his nerves, bringing light shocks to his senses. He lets the sensation electrify his body before releasing its restraint. His hunter senses, full and alert, take over, suffocating the vampire in him.

Kaname took a moment to recollect– it had been multiple millennia since he has used this particular power. But still – he hears the steady thumping of strong magic – his hunter senses are as sharp as ever. Kaname follows the sound echoing inside of him, feeling the pull and walking along with it. He enters a spiraling stairwell and the beat of the enchantment grows louder, like drums in his ears. Staring into the abyss, he knows it's down there.

And yet… Kaname peers into the air, eyes flashing blood red. He sees it, it's very transparent, but he sees faint red mist. Following the grainy trail, he spots a crevice on the wall, opposite to the first stair step and cleverly hidden by an ornate fixture. Like sand leaking from a cracked hourglass, fine grains of blood escapes from the crack in a steady alluring stream. The scent of it sends a wave of nausea down his body.

Kaname approaches the crack, placing cool hand over it. He's found the trail, but to where could be it leading? The hunter in him feels a pull to his right and his eyes gravitate upon a shallow hole in the wall, just scant centimeters from his head. Inspired by revelation, he raises a hand and bites down on his thumb, instantly drawing blood. He tracks his fangs down the finger, ripping new waves of crimson. Once Kaname reached the base, he tears out his bloodstained teeth and then lifts his injured hand to the shallow basin. The blood drips from his finger and into the cup-like cleft. In mere seconds a small puddle collects, and then Kaname feels the stagnant magic awaken in the walls. The threads of pure energy weave and slide until their movements end at an abrupt _click_, like intricate locks in place.

A square section of the wall creaks open, revolving slowly as if it wanted to suspend the mystery for just a little longer. The once faint mist pours out like a literal red sea, filling Kaname's lungs with his unfamiliar miasma. Still, the vampire presses on and slides past the hidden door and into the abyss.

"What is **this**…"

Kaname stares at his discovery. It was far more horrifying than he could ever imagine.

* * *

Deep within the confines of the Hunter Association Headquarters, a young sentry smirks to himself – his smile made even more sinister under the shade of his dark newsboy cap.

"So he's found **it**," he murmurs quietly.

He stands up from his perch, staring coldly at the slain body under him. Carnage circles the youth, bodies of hunters were strewn about like broken toys except that they were lying not on red carpet, but in the blanket of their own blood.

The false guard raises his head, revealing contrasting eyes – the left red, the right blue.

"Will you reclaim your precious throne, Kaname, now that you know it's made of thorns instead of jewels?" He smiles secretively, revealing his sharp set of fangs.

* * *

So, to answer some questions: **YES**, I am planning for OK to be **YAOI** - eventually. **NO**, Zero isn't the reincarnation of the Hooded Woman, it's much more complex than that. But she does play an important role in this story, especially in bringing Zero and Kaname together.

I would like to extend a special thanks to the anonymous reviewer who kindly pointed out the significance of Rei's (Hooded Woman) name. :D Please review again.

**THANK YOU:** fujoshii92, LuanRina, reishilovesyaoi, irmina, KazeKirran, ben4kevin, and Secret time.

Please leave criticism, questions, pleads for spoilers and/or random smut (WHAT) in your reviews. (In the last case, you may be rewarded. ;D)


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